2009

Objective-C and Processing software

Tentacles is a multiplayer game designed
to be played in a public space on a giant
screen that displays players’ locations
via iPhone or iPod touch. Players begin
the game in the dark at the bottom of the
ocean, each controlling a squid-like form
evolving out of the primordial ooze and
hunting for life-sustaining microorganisms
called tenticules. As each creature eats,
it grows and is confronted with other
growing creatures, representing other
players, that can steal its tenticules and
deprive it of nutrients. Players must make
a choice, the designers say, to “‘share’
or ‘scare’”—to decide if they are out for
themselves or willing to be part of the
larger whole, making for a dynamic and
philosophical public game.